An Ode to the Mix Tape

Does anyone remember the movie High Fidelity? You know - the movie where John Cusack, a record store owner, lists everything, including his last five breakups. He talks music, relationships, maturity and commitment (with a few pearls of wisdom - and some 'slamming' dance moves from Jack Black).

I haven't seen the movie in a while, but it has left me wondering about a few things... things like- what happened to dating, what happened to romance, and most importantly... what happened to the mixtape?

Things just aren't the same anymore... maybe I am 'old school' (or just plain old) but while globalisation has brought us closer together, modernization and technological advancement has pulled us further apart. People don't really talk anymore, everything is about speed and convenience and no one knows how to express themselves.

We talk at each other instead of to each other, we don't listen, we breakup over sms, we order takeout because we couldn't be bothered to spend an hour in the kitchen cooking something cheaper (and most likely- healthier), we don't feel productive unless we are doing five things at the same time and we can't relax until we are doing nothing.

Which brings me back to the mixtape... creating a mixtape was a process, and the end result was art. Hours were spent choosing songs from records, CDs or in my case waiting for your favourite song to play on the radio (... oh- the shame!). It was about waiting, patience, perfection. No quick solutions, no instant gratification- just hard work- but it was worth it.

Joel Keller, in his 2004 article, "PCs killed the mix-tape star", talks about his experience:

"I miss the way I used to make mixes. I'd sit in front of my tape deck, with a stack of CDs or records on one side of me, and a beverage (adult or otherwise) on the other, and spend a couple of hours or more finding just the right combination of songs to put on the tape. The levels would all match; loud songs got softened and soft songs got a boost. I would attempt to take the mix right to the end of the tape; I'd spend over an hour finding that perfect minute-and-a-half song or snippet that would fit musically with the rest of the mix."

So today's version of the mixtape? An MP3 CD? Seriously? We drag a couple of songs into a burnlist, click a button and voila... a compilation is born? Sounds easy, but its just not the same. Its not a process... its a procedure. Drag. Click. Burn.

And who needs an MP3 CD when you have an iPod... forget 20 favourite songs, try 10,000 songs. 10,000 song you will NEVER listen to. So..? My suggestion? Find the 20 songs you will listen to, follow the rules... and then... then... make a mixtape (ok fine- a mix CD if you will)!

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